I have been waiting to tell you about this for quite some time and so finally, here we are…

Stephanie, Nadia, and I are happy to announce the 2012 food styling and photography workshop in Dordogne, France!

Last year’s workshop was such an amazing experience. We have been overwhelmed with the positive response and emails from readers who wanted us to repeat it.

This is a hands-on workshop where we will learn about my philosophy on food styling and composition, how to tell a story through props, the basics of photography, and understanding and manipulating light, all in the beautiful surroundings of the Perigord region of France. There will be visits to local farmers’ markets, gardens, and the beautiful walnut groves the region is known for. It will be 4 days of cooking, tasting, styling, photographing, and visual storytelling. The workshop will take place from September 23-27, 2012, and be limited to just 8 people.

The workshop includes 4 days of cooking, styling and photographing food in a beautiful manoir nestled up against a stone cliff overlooking a lazy river. The cost is $2,240/person (for a shared room) and $2,740/person (private room) and covers 4 nights accommodations in a luxurious bed and breakfast, 4 gourmet breakfasts, 4 lunches, 1 dinner, transportation during workshop hours, 3 days of full instruction, and 1 day of sightseeing in the area.

We are happy to announce that registration will be open on Thursday, January 26th at 1 p.m. EST (10am PST). This is how registration will take place:

1. Right at 1:00 p.m. EST a post will go live indicating an email address where you’ll need to send your intent to register. Please make sure you are online at this time if you are interested in attending this workshop as we are operating on a first-come-first-serve basis.

2. Once you hear back from us via email, you will be required to sign a liability form and return it to us via fax, email, etc.

3. Once payment is made and requested forms are signed, your spot will be secure. At this time you’ll receive an email from us confirming the good news. If you are not able to secure your spot at this time, we will be sure to add your contact information to a waiting list.

4. A detailed itinerary will be issued to the 8 participants via email within 48 hours of registration.

Please know that our last workshop sold out in the first 10 minutes of opening registration, so if you are interested, please make sure to send us an email as quickly as possible.

It’s really wonderful to see the variety of photos from these six women. They were all in the same place at the same time, and yet they each have such a distinctive style of capturing and sharing their visions. So lovely!

Danielle- The way we did it last year is we flew to Paris and there we rented a car and drove down to Beynac. It is about a 5 hour drive. The students also made arrangements before the workshop so they could drive down together. You could also fly into Bordeaux and from there it is a 2 hour drive.

Monique- registration doesn’t open until January 26th at 1pm EST (19:00h in mainland Europe). Be online at that time. We will publish an email address where you will have to write to let us know you are interested in participating in the workshop.

Monique- registration doesn’t open until January 26th at 1pm EST (19:00h in mainland Europe). Be online at that time. We will publish an email address where you will have to write to let us know you are interested in participating in the workshop.

Run don’t walk to your keyboards on sign up day. You won’t regret it for a moment. Every part of it was glorious and Aran, and Stephanie, and Nadia are not only wonderful teachers but really, really lovely people.

Chriselda- In France people drive on the right side of the road. It is only in the UK and Ireland that they drive on the left, so no worries.

Yes you can rent a car and some of our students did that in fact. A few drove down from Paris and others from Bordeaux. It is about a 2 hour drive from Bordeaux to Beynac. If you do sign up for the workshop, I’m sure you will be able to get together with other students and drive together. That was a positive bonding experience last year actually.

Aran,I really hope my broadband is whirring quickly at CET 19.00! As I’d love to join you and the team in the Dordogne. Would be a real treat working holiday away from hubby and son! Just a quick query, as I would fly from Malta, I have Lyon (not too cheap) or Marseille (better fare price) to opt from. I’d need to train it over to the Dordogne. Do you have an idea how long either might be to get over west? Lyon more practical I think. Thanks so much.

Liz- I am really not sure about trains in France. Have you looked into flying in Bordeaux. That seems to be the closest airport and it’s 2 hours from Beynac.I believe train connections are scarce and that is why many decided to rent a car last year. Students arranged to meet up and drive together which worked out great. Hope to see you in France!

Aran,Huge thanks for the speedy reply. Sadly, Malta being a blip of an island, has limited flight routes in and out. So Bordeaux a no-go and Paris not a low-cost route for us at all! Will check trains but I know cross-country is very difficult. If I don’t manage to enroll, a huge favour – please, please see if you can bend the ear of Tartelette and persuade Helene to run a course in Provence one year soon when she’s heading there! Marseille a snip for me to get to!

Hi , I would love so much to come and I live in Provence , not so far really , have only to wait to know if I can ( maybe I’ll be working ) , but I do love your photos and I need to improve ( just a beginner , and my camera is very basic ) Anyway it’s a real pleasure to read your blog !

Anna- there will be emphasis on both styling and photography. There will be time for cooking, styling the food for camera, and photographing. We will discuss the basics of photography, my styling philosophy, we will cook, and also visit markets and groves.